Jewish View of Lucifer and Hell

Jewscout made a statement in another thread (Buttons' thread on Hell) that made me think.

What are the Jewish views of hell and Lucifer, exactly?

Do Jews not believe that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was Satan?

Why is there no belief of hell (if there isn't a belief a hell)?

I'm just curious....

If I placed this thread in a place where it shouldn't be...my apologies.

What are the Jewish views of hell and Lucifer, exactly?

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first Lucifer...the name "Lucifer" does not appear in Hebrew text and most Chumashim you can buy today. It says something like "morning star" or "day-star" and is refering to the King of babylon.

hell...well i think our buddies at Jews for Judaism have a good answer:

Although the Jewish Bible appears to focus primarily on our life and behavior in this world, Judaism definitely believes in Heaven and life after death. The plural form in Genesis 1:26, "Let us form man in our image," indicates that man has a dual nature -- a spiritual soul and a physical body. This is clearly seen in Genesis 2:7, "G-d formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath (soul--

) of life and man became a living being."
When a person dies the physical body returns to the earth, but the spiritual soul lives on eternally, as it says, "The dust will return to the earth, as it was, and the spirit will return to G-d who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
We do not believe in eternal damnation and hell. The Jewish belief is in a purgatory that purifies the soul of its spiritual blemishes prior to its return to G-d. (Psalm 49:15, II Samuel 14:13, Isaiah 45:17)

http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/handbook/s_faq.html

Do Jews not believe that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was Satan?

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hmmm you might get differing opinions...i've read commentary that the snake represents the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination (which The satan, HaSatan, represents but he's not like what most of christianity describes him as)
i've also hear Kabbalistic interpretations that take a completely different bend on the snake and makes it into a positive figure...

Why is there no belief of hell (if there isn't a belief a hell)?

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Hell in the christian sense of eternal damnation does not exist. there is a place known as gehinom, where the majority of us will go to be cleansed of our sins...sorta like detention, but we are not there forever. But that is the closest Judaism gets to a "hell" per se..
more here:
http://www.askmoses.com/qa_detail.html?h=215&o=164

as far as your, like, Hitlers and Stalins go...
for the truely evil, who can not be cleansed, their soul is simply snuffed out of existance.
if heaven is being in G-d's presense for eternity then a punishment would be being as far from that as one can be, and the furthest you can get is not existing at all.

Thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to answer. I have a better understanding now.

Yes, thanks. Why is it that we seldom hear any of this in the media?

Ardent Listener said:

Yes, thanks. Why is it that we seldom hear any of this in the media?

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ummm cause jews really don't worry about trying to publicize Judaism...we really don't worry too much about the religion of others outside of Jews, so long as you are a good person then that's enough for us and for HaShem.

that and given jewish history throughout the world for the past 2000 years publicizing you were a jew at the very least could get you a butt whoppin'

The closest thing to hell is called Sheol; something similar to a Hades underworld.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheol

Interesting to say the least.

kefa5 said:

***Rabbinic Judaism does not hold the Hebrew scriptures as God's SOLE authority in things pertaining to Him...but holds to the babblings of the Rabbis in the Talmud . . .

promulgate doctrines that are UNBIBLICAL because they are NOT bound by the dictates of Scripture. . . .

After the original creation, there was a satanic rebellion led by God's mightiest angelic being, LUCIFER . . .

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Lucifer, a satanic rebellion these are all a xtain concepts. In Judaism all Angles carry out the missions given them by G-d without deviation. They have no free will. An Angle whose mission is one that we would see as bad, such as the Angle of Death, is referred to as satan.

The babblings of the Rabbis is called the Oral Torah. It is the tradition given Moses on Mt. Sinai and passed down teacher to student, even today. It includes 13 rules by which the Torah may be understood and further expounded. It not only includes clarification of the laws but explanations of the deeper meaning. It fills in the missing details and gives a more historical background. Today much of the oral tradition is written down in the Talmud and many other writings.

When Jewish legal decisions are made the most weight is given to the Written Torah and the Oral Tradition received by Moses on Mt. Sinai. Other interpretations are also considered with the most weight given to the earlier Sages. Later interpretations are given the least weight.

Reading the written law without the oral law is like reading the evening paper that is made up of only headlines.

jewscout said:

... well i think our buddies at Jews for Judaism have a good answer:

Although the Jewish Bible appears to focus primarily on our life and behavior in this world, Judaism definitely believes in Heaven and life after death.

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Heaven and hell are post-Biblical constructs.

jewscout said:

hmmm you might get differing opinions...i've read commentary that the snake represents the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination (which The satan, HaSatan, represents but he's not like what most of christianity describes him as)
i've also hear Kabbalistic interpretations that take a completely different bend on the snake and makes it into a positive figure...

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One of my favorite learning sessions about the snake in the Garden of Eden is part of a series by Rabbi David Fohrman at Judaism - The Jewish Website

The series is 12 lessons long.

It is a very worthy and educational read.

jewscout said:

i've also hear Kabbalistic interpretations that take a completely different bend on the snake and makes it into a positive figure...

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This is not a Kabalistic teaching. It is from Occult Qabala which comes from xtain Cabala. xtain Cabala is only loosely base on Jewish Kabala. The concept of a rebellious angle is not a Jewish one.

jewscout said:

When a person dies the physical body returns to the earth, but the spiritual soul lives on eternally, as it says, "The dust will return to the earth, as it was, and the spirit will return to G-d who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
We do not believe in eternal damnation and hell. The Jewish belief is in a purgatory that purifies the soul of its spiritual blemishes prior to its return to G-d. (Psalm 49:15, II Samuel 14:13, Isaiah 45:17)

Jews for Judaism


Hell in the christian sense of eternal damnation does not exist. there is a place known as gehinom, where the majority of us will go to be cleansed of our sins...sorta like detention, but we are not there forever. But that is the closest Judaism gets to a "hell" per se..
more here:
Does Judaism believe in Heaven and Hell? - life cycle death afterlife philosophy consequences

as far as your, like, Hitlers and Stalins go...
for the truely evil, who can not be cleansed, their soul is simply snuffed out of existance.
if heaven is being in G-d's presense for eternity then a punishment would be being as far from that as one can be, and the furthest you can get is not existing at all.

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I want to publicly thank you for this wonderful answer. I was checking out that one website too and was amazed at some of the arguments, as many are the same we Catholics use in discussion with some Protestants. I always wondered how Jewish ideas of gehenna and sheol fit in with Catholic beliefs of the after life and your answers gave me much order to the connections. Our ideas of purgation are equivalent.
Thanks mucho
chlotilde

jewscout said:

Hell in the christian sense of eternal damnation does not exist.

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I find it interesting that you say this because my cousin who is half Jew does believe in a Heaven as well as Hell. He was raised Jewish and Southern Baptist but claims Judaism. He even read a book I have by Bill Weise titled, "23 Minutes in Hell." He stated that he believed a lot of what it said but at the same time it posed a lot of questions because it didn't line up with the Jewish faith.

LOL! Well then, if your half jewish, half baptist cousin believes in it then it must be real and true.

NoahideHiker said:

LOL! Well then, if your half jewish, half baptist cousin believes in it then it must be real and true.

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I wasn't implying at to whether or not it was or wasn't true. I was just making a statement about a recent encounter I had regarding this topic and found it interesting based on the comment that Jews do not believe in an actual Hell. I guess though when one is considered a hybrid... the traditional views of that particular faith can at times be a bit mixed. Just my thoughts...

Is there any more punishment given to Gentiles than to Jews?

hindupridemn said:

Is there any more punishment given to Gentiles than to Jews?

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I would say no, it is always fare and square

each according to his deeds, its not easy being a Jew, so many laws to follow.

It is relatively easy to cull through a basket of quotes for support for virtually any view of the afterlife one wishes to embrace. But let me offer two warnings and one suggestion.

Be forewarned:

1. To ask what today's Judaism believes is not the same as asking what Judaism believed prior to its exposure to Persian and Greek influences.
2. To ask what Jews believe is to ask a question with no simple answer: so, for example, there has been a long, intense, and well documented polemic within Judaism regarding the resurrection of the dead.

If you're really interested in the topic:

• I know of no better source of information than Niel Gillman's The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought